Fusenews: Harumphing my amens

Not sure how long I’ll get to keep calling my little news items “Fusenews” since the Fuse network, hitherto not a problem in my sphere, has just decided to call their news program, you guessed it, Fuse News. But really, who am I to complain? It’s a kicky little term.

So! The 2012 Cybils Awards were handed out just the other day and the winners are sublime. Kudos particularly to Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartness (winner of the Early Chapter Book category), Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre (winner of the Middle Grade Graphic Novel category), The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (winner of the Middle Grade Fantasy & Science Fiction category), Wonder by R.J. Palacio (winner of the Middle Grade Chapter Book category), and Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks (winner of the Young Adult Graphic Novel category and Best Book I Didn’t Review in 2012).

Marjorie Ingall’s on the ball, reviewing a rare picture book with a Jewish theme AND gay parents. As she says, “it’s about time”. Sometimes it seems to me that it’s particularly hard for a book for kids to be two things at once. Jewish AND gay. Black AND dealing with a dead pet. Korean AND deaf. It’s like children’s literature requires one category and if you double or triple it then no one knows how to define you.

Here in town there’s a l’il ole theater called the New Victory. And from time to time they’ve a habit of putting on theatrical productions for children. Actually it’s all the time, and they’re a HUGE theater in the center of Times Square. In any case, the nice folks in that neck of the woods often like me to come up with reading lists as companions for their shows. Right now they’re presenting a character famous in picture books in Australia but not particularly well known here. As a result I created some Grug (that’s his name) readalikes. Love that stuff, I do!

I like this next one because rather than do a long write-up I can just lift the helpful little JPG o’ info:

This would be the Facebook Page referenced above: https://www.facebook.com/byjanbrett. Right now Bloomsburg, PA is in the lead. You gonna take that sitting down, o rest of the country?

In movie news, John Rocco’s Caldecott Honor winning picture book Blackoutwas just optioned film rights-wise and may be a live action feature film. They’re actually having script meetings n’ all. Well done, John!

All right. The title of today’s Fusenews is a response to this piece. This is the post I’ve been waiting for all along. Mainly, an independent bookseller’s response to the news that Barnes & Noble will be closing some of their locations. At long last Josie Leavitt of the ShelfTalker blog tackles the thorny issue. Josie’s post, as you will see, has gotten a couple fiery responses, but far fewer than I expected.

In other news, there are three things I like about the TeachingBooks.net site right now. First off, there’s the fact that they’re now presenting a range of audio interviews conducted with the most recent winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards. That’s cool. Then there’s the fact that they have provided up-to-date photos of each of those winners. Suddenly I’m fascinated. So THAT is what Ethan Long looks like! You actually cannot find this kind of information much of anywhere. And third, I love that they’re including the winners of the Canadian awards as well as the American ones. International love!

Daily Image:

Isn’t the world just a slightly happier place now that you know that winged keys really do exist?

Elizabeth Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .